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For further information see the web site.

Today, Iranian plays both in traditional and contemporary styles are staged in theater festivals throughout the world and play their role in forming a universal language of theater which combine the heritages from countries in all five continents. Despite many obstacles, some Iranian plays have been translated into English and some prominent Iranian figures are successful stage directors outside Iran. Forty-six years ago when "Theater in Iran" (a monograph on the history of Iranian plays) by Bahram Beyzaie was first published, it put the then contemporary Iranian theater movement "which was altogether westernizing itself blindly" face to face with a new kind of self-awareness. Hence, today's generation of playwrights and stage directors in Iran, all know something of their theatrical heritage. In this course we will spend some class sessions on the history of theater in Iran and some class meetings will be concentrating on contemporary movements and present day playwrights. Given the dearth of visual documents, an attempt will be made to present a picture of Iranian theater to the student. Students are expected to read the recommended available translated plays of the contemporary Iranian playwrights and participate in classroom discussions. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.Same as:

Despite enormous obstacles, immigrant Iranian filmmakers, within a few decades (after the Iranian Revolution), have created a slow but steady stream of films outside Iran. They were originally started by individual spontaneous attempts from different corners of the world and by now we can identify common lines of interest amongst them. There are also major differences between them. These films have never been allowed to be screened inside Iran, and without any support from the global system of production and distribution, as independent and individual attempts, they have enjoyed little attention. Despite all this, Iranian cinema in exile is in no sense any less important than Iranian cinema inside Iran. In this course we will view one such film, made outside Iran, in each class meeting and expect to reach a common consensus in identifying the general patterns within these works and this movement. Questions such as the ones listed below will be addressed in our meetings each week: What changes in aesthetics and point of view of the filmmaker are caused by the change in his or her work environment? Though unwantedly these films are made outside Iran, how related are they to the known (recognized) cinema within Iran? And in fact, to what extent do these films express things that are left unsaid by the cinema within Iran? NOTE:This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.Same as:

It is the student's responsibility to arrange the colloquium no later than the first half of the next quarter after the student has passed the University oral examination. The student should set the date and time in consultation with the department administrator and with the three examiners. The department administrator schedules an appropriate room for the colloquium.

Chair of Graduate Admissions: Roland Greene

The field of Comparative Literature provides students the opportunity to study imaginative literature in a wide array of contexts: historical, formal, theoretical, and more. While other literary disciplines focus on works of literature within national or linguistic traditions, Comparative Literature draws on multiple contexts in order to examine the nature of literary phenomena from around the globe and from different historical moments, while exploring how literature interacts with other elements of culture and society.

COMPLIT 82. Making Palestine Visible. 3-5 Units.

The principal conditions for continued registration of a graduate student are the timely and satisfactory completion of the university, department, and program requirements for the degree, and fulfillment of minimum progress requirements. Failure to meet these requirements results in corrective measures that may include a written warning, academic probation, and/or the possible release from the program.

COMPLIT 101. What Is Comparative Literature?. 5 Units.

Discussion of one contemporary or historical text from the Western philosophical tradition per quarter in a group of faculty and graduate students. For admission of new participants, a conversation with H. U. Gumbrecht is required. May be repeated for credit. Taught in English.Same as: ,

COMPLIT 102. Film Series: Understanding Turkey Through Film. 1 Unit.

A study of the novel as generic form and site of theorization for African writers and scholars of literature, via close reading of key works of fiction and critical analysis. We will consider the place of historical and cultural context in creative and artistic production, publication, and reception within the continent and beyond it. We will certainly pay close attention to innovation at the level of form, theme, plot, characterization, style or poetics. But we will also attend to questions that arise with the formation of African literature as an autonomous corpus and field, including those critical questions that concern uses of orality, performance, and tradition as indices of authenticity; the challenges and possibilities of language; and the common presumption of the nation as realist or allegorical frame, as well as its complex relationship to class, gender, and ethnic minoritization.Same as:

Senior Lecturer: Vered K. Shemtov

At least two of the courses counted toward requirements 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 must be taught by Comparative Literature faculty. Transfer units may not normally be used to satisfy requirements 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9. Units devoted to acquiring language proficiency are not counted toward the 65-unit requirement.

Lecturers: Petra Dierkes-Thrun, Burcu Karahan

Masters of German 20th- and 21st-Century literature and philosophy as they present aesthetic innovation and confront the challenges of modern technology, social alienation, manmade catastrophes, and imagine the future. Readings include Nietzsche, Freud, Rilke, Musil, Brecht, Kafka, Doeblin, Benjamin, Juenger, Arendt, Musil, Mann, Adorno, Celan, Grass, Bachmann, Bernhardt, Wolf, and Kluge. Taught in English. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take or for a minimum of 3 Units and a letter grade.Same as: ,

Reviews

“ This course explores the special connection between jazz and literature. In texts that range from American novels to the poetry of African independence movements, jazz emerges at once as a structuring principle (as in Toni Morrison's Jazz and James Baldwin's The Amen Corner) and a unifying theme (for example, Noémia de Sousa's "A Billie Holiday, Cantora"). It is also part of a larger philosophical discussion on rhythm that connects to deep questions of selfhood, ethics, democracy, listening, and vital force. If you love jazz and want to dig deeper into its possibilities or want to find new ways to express literature's power, this class provides the venue. The rest is, as Sonny Rollins put it, "creation and surprise.".Same as: ”

COMPLIT 11Q. Shakespeare, Playing, Gender. 3 Units.

Gallery COMPLIT 51Q. Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity. 4 Units.

COMPLIT 70N. Animal Planet and the Romance of the Species. 3-4 Units.

Through completion of advanced course work and rigorous skills training, the doctoral program prepares students to

Every doctoral dissertation is read and approved by the three members of the student’s doctoral dissertation reading committee. The doctoral dissertation reading committee consists of the principal dissertation adviser and, typically, two other readers. The doctoral dissertation reading committee must have no fewer than three and no more than five members. At least one member must be from the student’s major department. Normally, all committee members are members of the Stanford University Academic Council or are emeritus Academic Council members. The student's department chair may, in some cases, approve the appointment of a reader who is not a current or emeritus member of the Academic Council, if that person is particularly well qualified to consult on the dissertation topic and holds a Ph.D. or equivalent degree. Former Stanford Academic Council members and non-Academic Council members may thus, on occasion, serve on a reading committee. A non-Academic Council member (including former Academic Council members) may replace only one of three required members of dissertation reading committees. If the reading committee has four or five members, at least three members (comprising the majority) must be current or emeritus members of the Academic Council.